By: Lisa Lowry had a triple-double as the Lady Blues won their conference opener at Knox in five marathon sets.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team battled its way to a grueling 3-2 win (23-25, 29-27, 25-23, 13-25, 17-15) over Knox College on Tuesday night in the Midwest Conference opener for each team. Three Lady Blues had double-digit kills, led by
Lisa Lowry, who notched 12 kills, 18 assists and 16 digs. It's the first win in a MWC opener for Illinois College since 2011 and improves the team to 4-9 (1-0 MWC) in advance of its match against Lake Forest College on Thursday night back home in Sherman Gymnasium.
Illinois College fell behind early on in the first set against Knox, giving up the first four points of the match. Behind the play of
Courtney Louveau – who had six kills in the first set alone – the Lady Blues were able to come back and lead much of the way, only to see the Prairie Fire heat up late and claim a 25-23 win.
The second set featured 13 ties as neither team backed down from the other's challenge. Lowry had four kills, five assists and five digs in the set, but the defense of
Maurissa Moulton may have made the biggest difference for IC. The senior libero had 11 of her team-high 27 digs in the set, keeping the Lady Blues alive. After a kill from
Ogechi Uju-Eke tied things up for the final time at 27-27, two attack errors from Knox were the difference as Illinois College tied the match at 1-1 with a 29-27 victory.
The third set belonged to
Mikayla Greenwood, with the freshman laying down six of her 11 kills in that set alone. The IC lead grew to as much as six at 18-12 and the Lady Blues held on down the stretch with a kill from
Holly Crocher giving the team a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
IC struggled through the fourth set with as many attack errors as kills, giving Knox the opportunity to force a decisive fifth set with a wire-to-wire win.
In the fifth, the Lady Blues came out strong, winning the first four points and switching sides of the court with an 8-2 lead. Almost as quickly, Knox came roaring back, pulling within two points at 9-7. A Greenwood service ace reestablished an 11-7 lead for Illinois College, but the Prairie Fire tallied five of the next six points to tie the set at 12-12. With the set tied at 15-15, it was the Lady Blues who refused to blink. First came an attack error from Knox to give IC a match point, and Crocher followed up with a kill from Louveau for a 17-15 win.
Crocher tied Lowry for the team high in kills with 12. Greenwood had a double-double with 11 digs in addition to her 11 kills. Uju-Eke had seven kills, two solo blocks and a block assist. Louveau ended the night with 26 assists.
Winners of two in a row, Illinois College returns home on Thursday night to face Lake Forest at 7 p.m. The team closes out the weekend against Beloit College on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
